*Age Of Consent & Legal Sexual Activity for the State of
12th November 2002 Letter to Premier Peter Beattie and Attorney General Rod Welford, responding to Mr Beattie’s public declarations about his “known stance” on social equity in the week following the 6th November 2002 proposed Discrimination Amendment Bill 2002. Mr Beattie reminded the media that he was Chairman of the Committee which presented the October 1990 PCJC Report on Homosexual Law Reform. That report recommended an unqualified equal age of consent. I again invite details of an opportunity for our delegation to meet with the Government to discuss amending the law.
The following is a full transcript.
To: Premier of Queensland, Hon Peter Beattie MP.
P0 Box 185
Brisbane Albert Street 4002
Copy to: Attorney-General Rod Welford MP
GPO
Brisbane 4001
Date:
From: John Frame
(presenter for 9 years of Radio
4ZZZ’s gay support radio program Queer
Radio)
82 Main Avenue,
Wavell Heights 4012.
Ph: 3350 1562 / 0409 501 561
Re: Congratulations
and request for a meeting with our delegation.
Dear Mr
Beattie,
Firstly I would like to repeat my
letter to the Courier Mail which was printed on 8th November 2002:
I applaud the Beattie Government for acting
astutely in the interests of social justice for all Queenslanders through the
proposed reform package on November 6. Attorney-General Rod Welford said the
reforms were designed to protect the human rights of Queenslanders and ensure
the state remained a "tolerant and welcoming place to live and
visit".
For myself and many of my friends it is now a
safer and more supportive environment in which to get on with our lives with
confidence, as active and proud members of the
general community.
I am further encouraged by your
statement, quoted in the Courier Mail by journalist Wayne Smith (CM 8th
November 2002):
"I was one of the people, you
may recall, who as chairman of the Parliamentary Criminal Justice Committee,
recommended the decriminalisation of sexual acts between homosexual consenting
adults. My position on these issues of personal freedoms and personal liberties
is well known."
Consequently I am writing to
follow up my request for a meeting by a delegation with yourself and with
Attorney General Rod Welford in order to establish rapid action to omit Section
208 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act (Act No 3 of 1997), thereby ensuring that
a truly equal age of consent exists in Queensland.
The October 1990 PCJC Report
recommended that an equal age of consent was vital in assisting proper delivery
of safe sex information to those most at risk. On page 75 you state that: “as a father of three young children I am determined to do everything in
my power to ensure that by the time my children reach their teenage years
everything is done over the years to wipe out AIDS.”
With World AIDS Day coming up on
1st December, I suggest this would be the ideal opportunity for the
Government to announce that it is acting to ensure the health of all
Queenslanders is equally cared for, by equalising the age of consent for sexual
activity and thereby giving all persons access to effective safe sex
information.
The response of the media and
public to last week’s Discrimination Law Amendment Bill proves the truth of my
assertion in my recent letter to you (28th October 2002): “I further believe that since 1990 both the public and the Parliament
have become more fully informed and aware of the reality of homosexuality as
being just another fact of life, and certainly being neither a risk to society
nor a perversion. They are ready to accept this socially just reform.”
You may not consider meeting a
delegation to be necessary, but I would still like us to be informed or
consulted regarding progress in this area. The delegation will include Jeff
Cheverton (Brisbane Youth Service), Todd Buttery (Gay & Lesbian Welfare
Association), Samuel Walker (Open Doors youth community service) and Roger
Sawkins (Qld Police Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Liaison Project) – who
has been an activist for reform for over 30 years, and who was an interviewee
at the August 1990 PCJC Hearings into homosexual law reform.
The Attorney General’s office
advised me in writing on 1st November that they had received my
request for a meeting. We now await the confirmation of arrangements.
I look forward to hearing from
you.
Yours sincerely,
John Frame
82 Main Avenue,
Wavell Heights. 4012
3350 1562 / 0409 501 561
jvframe@bigpond.net.au